Airship



m May 25, 1943. J. A. YAVDYNSKY 2,319,967

AIRSHIP Filed Sept. 6, 1941 INVENTOR. aim/us Ya voy/vs/ry ATTORNEYPatented May 25, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Amsmr JuliusA.,Yavdynsky, New York, N. Y.

Application September 6, 1941, Serial No. 409,765

" 2 Claims. (01. 244-4).

My invention relates to airships and has particular reference toairships of a helicopter type.

My invention has for its object to provide an airship in which liftingforce is produced by two propellers mounted at the upper and lower endsof a transverse vertical opening in the body of the airship, thepropellers driving the air through the opening downwards. The propellersare made to rotate in the opposite directions, thereby balancing thetorque reaction on the body. By mount ing the propellers at the ends ofthe tubular opening, an added advantage is obtained, as compared withordinary double propellers used in helicopters, in that the propellerssupplement each other, operating at their full efliciency.

Another object of my invention is to provide a substantial additionalpropelling force by so shaping the body around the upper propeller as tocause the airstream from the propeller to produce a zone of vacuum. Thisis accomplished in my device by extending outer portions of thepropeller blades beyond the edges of the opening and deflecting theairstream produced by the outer portions of .the blade in a radialdirection over an annular shoulder, vacuum being thereby formed underthe shoulder.

Another object of my invention is to provide means to-enable the airshipto glide for landin when the propeller is not operating. I provide forthis purpose short wings, preferably of a tubular shape, tubularapertures in the'wings having additional propellers for the forwardmovement of the airship.

The vacuum-producing recess and shoulder on the body under the propellercan be also utilized for the horizontal propulsion and without thecentral tubular aperture.

My invention is more fully described in the accompanying specificationand drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is an elevationapview of my airship;

Fig. 2 is a front view of the same; and

Fig. 3 is a fractional top plan view of the same.

My airship consists of a body or fuselage I having a vertical rudder 2and horizontal rudders 3. Wheels 4 are provided for taxiing the bodyover the ground. A round tower 5 is mounted at the middle of the bodywith a transverse tube forming an opening 6'. A shaft 1 is rotativelysupported in the opening on brackets 8, mounting a propeller 9. Thelatter is of a substantially larger diameter than the diameter of theopening, so that only the middle portion of the propeller drives the airthrough the opening 6', the outer portions of the propeller bladesdriving the air over the upper end of the tower 5. The propeller shaft 1is connected as by bevel gears [0, II with a power shaft l 2 extendingfrom a motor I3. The opening 6 is of a frusto-conical shape, being of alarger diameter at the lower end. A second or pushing propeller I4 ismounted on a lower shaft IS, the latter having a bevel gear IS in meshwith the gear H. The two propellers rotate, therefore, in the oppositedirections, so that their torque on the body isfully compensated.

The upper portion of the tower 5 has an annular concave recess I! soarranged that the airstream l8 from the upper propeller 9 is deflectedin approximately radial directions, fiowing'over a shoulder IS. Theshouldered portion 20 of the tower descends downward at a steep angle,so that vacuum is formed in a space 2! under the airstream. The bodyunder the tower is again widened so that the vacuum in the space 2|causes the air pressure to lift the body.

The tower may be provided with observation windows 22 on all sides,making my aircraft convenient for use as an observation station in theair instead of a captive balloon, for directing and correcting artilleryfire, for weather observation, etc.

For horizontal flying my aircraft is provided with additional propellers23 on shafts 24 supported in tubes 25 at the sides of the body I servingas wings. The tubes are inclined forward and have airfoil surfaces26 ontop in order to form vacuum above the tubes during horizontal flight ofthe machine. The shafts may be driven by the motor l3 by means ofsprockets 21, 28 and chains 29. It is understood, of course, that allfour propellers may be operated by individual motors if desired.Ailerons 30 of an ordinary type may be provided at the ends of the tubes25.

The tubular wings have an added advantage in that the craft can besafely guided in a sliding descent if the motor fails to operate.

My aircraft is therefore especially suitable for scoutin duty on land,with a moving army when there are no airdromes available for ordinaryairplanes; also for service with warships, since it can take offvertically from a deck of an ordinary ship or from any spot on theground.

It is understood that for certain purposes the tubular wings may bereplaced by solid wings of a narrow wing span and small aspect ratio.

For large transport airplanes,'the tubular wings may be modified so asto provide more room for windows in the fuselage.

It is understood that my airship may be further modified withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention, as set forth in the appendedclaims.

tially smaller than the propellers so that only the inner portion of thetop propeller can force the air stream into the opening, the outerportions of the propeller producing an airst ream flowing downward overthe upper portion oi. the body; I

and means on the body to produce vacuum by the flowing airstream.

2. An airship comprising a body having a vertically extending transverseopening converging toward the top, the diameter at the top beingsubstantially smaller than at the bottom, upper and lower propellers ofsubstantially the same diameter rotatively supported alt-the top andbottom openings; means to rotate the propellers in opposite directions,the lower propeller being positioned inside the opening, the toppropeller being positioned outside the top opening and at a distancetherefrom; the top opening being substantially smaller than thepropeller so that only the inner portion of the top propeller can forcethe airstream into the opening, the middle and outer portion of theupper propeller being adapted to produce a downward flowing airstream,the exposed outer portion ofthe body having an annular shoulder andrecess for producing vacuum above the body by the action of theairstream.

JULIUS A. YAVDYNSKY.

